Heart-Stealer
by ShaeraHaek
Summary: AU: The caravan from west brings more than tasty fruits. Fem!Bilbo (Side story for Brothers)


Why did everyone make such fuss about the caravan? It´s not like they were bringing golden fruits. Shire, Shire, everybody is talking about nothing else but The Shire. It is tiring, really - to listen to all the praises and over exaggerated tales of little people and their wonderful fruits. Like he cares.

Thorin sighed heavily as he adjusted the black hood on his head. He would see for himself how good the goods were. The caravan had just arrived and the moonlit streets of the outer market were crowded with and ungodly amount of people. Sighing again, he made his way down the street.

Few young children – who were surely supposed to be in bed by this time – ran past him, yelling and pointing at the one stand not far away, filled with fruits of all kinds. He followed them silently, just out of curiosity. There were crates filled with apples, tomatoes and peaches near the stand, and the antique wagon near it was surrounded by dwarves. Thorin craned his neck to see what had all the attention but the crowd was too big. Not to mention loud. He gave up on the peeking and walked around inspecting the goods. Frowning at the crowd´s sudden outburst of laugh, he looked around uncertainly and snatched a peach from the crate.

Thorin hummed with appreciation as he bit the peach. It was really delicious. He devoured the fruit in seconds. Sneaking another glance at the now diminishing crowd, he made sure nobody was looking and took another peach.

He really had to admit that the fruits were really something. A whole different league. The fruit from Dale was good. But not this good.

Thorin munched on his peach confidently, savouring the sweetness and completely forgetting that he didn´t even pay for it. He noticed a beardless man – a Hobbit he presumed – standing on the cart and shouting prices for the goods, which the dwarves enthusiastically divided among themselves.

Thorin shrugged and with snatching another peach, he turned around to leave. He only managed to take one single bite of the small delicious peach when something hard violently hit his head.

Hissing angrily, he spun on his heels abruptly to educate the fool who dared to toss things at his head. He searched the crowd for the culprit but he couldn't see anyone suspicious.

"Thief!" A small young woman shouted from afar, her face twisted in a scowl. He blinked owlishly, his anger partially forgotten, taking in her look – the chocolate brown curly hair, the blue-grey eyes, the delightfully plump curves..."Thief!" The woman repeated. "Where are you going?!" She demanded. "Are you going to gape at me or are you going pay for the things you have stolen?"

Thorin stared at her completely dumbstruck. Such a fair woman and so fierce.

"I was merely trying to see for myself if the rumours are true, lady." He composed himself in the last moment.

"What rumours would that be?" She asked, her scowl faltering a bit.

"One that says that these fruits are best in the whole Middle-earth!" He smoothly answered. He could talk his way out of here.

The woman smiled cockily and crossed her arms on her chest, arching an eyebrow at him. Thorin´s eyes strayed towards her chest but he thankfully had enough will and self-preservation to resist staring. Best fruits indeed.

"That is true." Her voice jerked him out of his dreaming, startling him a bit.

"I came here to inspect the good on behalf of the king´s head chef." He lied smoothly, bowing his head.

"Oh really?" She said and he could hear the amusement and sarcasm dripping from the words. "And do you deem my goods good enough for the king´s kitchens?" She asked smugly.

"Indeed, milady! I will have the kitchens filled with your goods by tomorrow´s breakfast!"

She shook her head in amusement and laughed. "Well, I take your word then. The king will have his goods prepared immediately, mister silver-tongue." She teased and he tried to hide his shy smile from her.

"Splendid." He whispered, not tearing his eyes from hers.

"You still have to pay for the peach, though." She said cocking an eyebrow at him.

Thorin tossed the peach at her, attempting to distract her but she caught it expertly in her hand. Thankfully, her eyes left him for the spit of the second and he used the time to turnaround and run into the shadows.

He saw her look around in search for him. She huffed and shook her head again, and her eyes returned to the peach in her hand. She smiled when she discovered the bite on the fruit and looked around again – the mischievous smile never leaving her lips.

Somehow, Thorin found himself unable to tear his eyes from her. He stood there like a rock pillar, his eyes wandering on her.

She was still trying to find him in the crowd but was interrupted by a trio of dwarves. Thorin frowned. She smiled at them and patiently answered all their questions, nodding and shaking her head. Soon more dwarves joined them and she was surrounded by a crowd of loud dwarven men. Thorin didn´t like it one bit.

He saw her looking around again and by some miracle she spotted him in the distant shadow. Thorin panicked and crouched, cursing under his breath. Smooth, real smooth, he had to look like a creepy stalker now. He dared to peek in her direction again and his eyes met her and she smirked at him, raising the peach to her lips and taking a bite.

Thorin felt all his blood rush to his head, his ears were burning and his heart jumped into his mouth. He broke into a run, ignoring the yelps from the people he bumped into. He was sure that at some point he passed Frerin and Dwalin, who exchanged worried looks as he darted past them straight into his chamber.

Once in the safety of his room he dived headfirst into the bed, shoving his head into the pillows. The door opened, revealing Frerin and Dwalin just as he let out a very unmanly frustrating scream.

"I don´t think he is alright." Frerin said glancing at his brother with worry. Dwalin nervously shuffled his feet.

Thorin sat up, throwing the pillow at the two by the door. Dwalin caught the pillow before it could hit the younger dwarf while Frerin eyed his brother, completely unperturbed.

"Get out!" Thorin shouted but he sounded rather like an indignant maiden than a dwarven prince. Dwalin and Frerin exchanged surprised looks.

"Are you alright? You look fever- are you blushing?" Frerin asked squinting disbelievingly at Thorin.

"Shut up! I´m not!"

Dwalin and Frerin exchanged a silent conversation and Dwalin smirked and threw the pillow back at his friend.

"I know that look," Dwalin smirked, "someone is in lo-ove!"

* * *

Of course he bought all her goods and stuffed the kitchens full with them. Of course he had to send an errand-boy to pay her. Of course he had to put the black cloak on and follow her around the whole day. And of course his insufferable brother had to follow him and make fun of him the whole day.

After Thorin beat the crap out of his baby brother and sent him back to the mountain, he continued his... research. Yes, not stalking, thank you very much.

During his... research... Thorin found out that he had quite the concurrence. She was constantly bothered by numerous dwarves, asking her if she already had a sweetheart – Thorin almost jumped of excitement when she said ´no´ - or if she would want to go out some day, or have a pint some day, or this, or that. Thorin was really fed up with the dwarven wooers but he would not step out of the shadows no matter what.

She would always excuse herself from the dwarves and run off laughing, leaving the smitten dwarves behind her. And Thorin would always follow her.

Dwalin and Frerin would tease him, laughing at him and telling him that he is worse than a love-struck maiden and making kissing noises behind his back. Thorin tried his best to ignore the two idiots and concentrate on the pretty lass on the street.

One day he saw her mounting a pony, telling the hobbit who shared her tent – probably her father or uncle judging by the looks – that she´ll be out for a while and that he should not worry about her. Thorin dashed to the royal stables before he even heard her finish her sentence.

What did she mean by ´out´?! ´Out´ doesn´t sound very safe. ´Out´ was never safe. He mounted the pony faster than ever and nudged it towards the city gates. He caught a glimpse of her velvet cloak in the distance and he immediately spurred the pony in her direction. He spied from afar that she was headed towards the edge of a small forest not far away from the city.

It took a good while to get to the small forest. He dismounted his exhausted pony and tied him to a tree on a small clearing.

Thorin never saw a thicker forest. It looked quite lame from the safety of Erebor and he never thought that trees could even grow that close to each other.

After first ten minutes of tracking her he was cursing violently at the trees. He would swear they were alive and they were laughing at him. The roots were everywhere, making it impossible to walk properly. He tripped and fell every five seconds, he had leaves in his hair, under his tunic and he was sure some of them crawled into his pants and boots.

After a good half hour of searching he was about to give up and turn back but he was halted by a sudden neigh. It was faint but he knew it was there. He stilled his breathing and listened.

There! Again. He silently stalked towards the sound. He could now see the horse and hear the... water? Putting the bothersome branches of a bush away he glanced around.

There she was, bathing in the lazy stream.

Thorin felt the blood rushing to his face... and maybe somewhere else too. Blushing like a madman, he carefully let the branches go and crawled behind a nearby tree. Biting his knuckles hard enough to draw blood even through the glove, he forced himself to calm down. Standing up he allowed himself to peek again.

She was standing waist-deep in the stream – thank Mahal for small mercies – completely naked, rubbing her skin with soap. Her beautiful white skin shimmered in the few rays of light that made it through the treetops.

Thorin ducked behind the tree again, taking deep breaths. He didn´t even notice that he blew his cover by stepping on one particularly thin root, breaking it with a loud crunch.

He was about to get away when a stone hit the tree in front of him, leaving a disturbingly big dent.

"Come out!" He heard from behind. Thorin gulped loudly and with his hands in air he stepped from behind the tree.

He had the decency to aver his gaze from her but with every passing second it was harder and harder. He noticed the elvish-looking sword in her hands – at least she wasn't foolish enough to come alone without a weapon. He also noticed the wonderful curves of her breasts – which she didn´t even bother to cover up.

"Step closer you creep!" She yelled angrily and he stepped out of the shadows, his hands still in air. "Show me your face!" She demanded, and he removed his black hood without a word.

"It is not what it looks like." Thorin said meekly.

"Silence!" She said as she stepped closer – and Thorin cursed mentally when his eyes landed on her chest again, watching her plump breasts bounce with every step she took.

He felt the blade touch his throat.

"It´s you!" She whispered. "The peach-thief. Why are you stalking me?" She asked sternly but he could hear the silent disbelief. "I didn´t think you would be the perverted one." She said when she saw that Thorin was struggling with his words.

"I just-" Thorin sighed meeting her eyes. She arched a brow at him.

"You just...what?"

"I saw you leaving the city. And I went after you because it is not safe to go alone to the outskirts."

"Oh, I see. So you were just worried for my safety. Is that the best you can think of?"

"No! I mean... it is true." He huffed unhappily. She graced him with an unfazed look. "Could you, please, put some clothes on?" Thorin whined, looking at the pony on the left because he could feel that her naked presence itself made his blood rush to completely improper regions and he could hardly control it any longer.

"Why, I thought that´s why you came, to spy on naked women bathing in streams." She shot back irritatedly.

"I told you that´s not true, I swear!" Thorin said impatiently. Seriously, this woman could not be any worse.

"You swear..." She answered, nodding her head and humming to herself. "If you can´t keep your limbs in control, how about I make it easier for you?" She said smirking and Thorin felt that the blade left his throat and travelled to a neither region. She tapped his crotch with the tip of the sword. "What say you? Shall I help you out?"

Thorin´s face twisted in horror and he was about to plead for mercy when he was cut off by a blood-curdling screech.

They both turned towards it´s general direction and Thorin noticed the scared look on the woman´s face.

"What was that?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Orcs." Thorin whispered as he glanced around assessing their escape ways. The cry came from north – thank Mahal, so they were not cut off the main road back to Erebor.

"Put something on and follow me." He whispered warily listening to other sounds. She didn´t even bother to dry herself, she put her dress on and untied her pony, following Thorin into the forest.

"Where are you leading me?" She asked nervously as she led her pony after him.

"Back to safety, hopefully." He answered turning around. "I will need this, though." Thorin announced as she snatched her blade away.

"Hey!" She cried startledly slapping his face. "Give that back you crook!" The pony neighed in fright. Thorin roughly put his hand over her mouth – maybe a bit roughly – and pressed her against a tree. He felt a sting in his gut when he met her utterly frightened and watering eyes.

"Shh. You have to be quiet." He whispered softly, loosening the pressure of his palm. "Please, you have to trust me, I don´t want to hurt you." He added.

She shook her head and Thorin released her although he did not step aside.

"What is your name?" He asked carefully.

"Bella." She answered a little bit too meekly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Bella, I am Thorin. At your service." He introduced himself hastily, glancing around as another unpleasant cry echoed through the forest. "I will help you but you have to trust me. We will get to my pony and then we will go back to the mountain. I will borrow your sword for now, and I will ride behind you. If anything happens, I want you to go keep going." Bella nodded, her eyes wide with fear and lips pressed into tight line.

Thorin took her hand and lead her further. The strange elvish dagger started to glow dully as they went on and Bella whimpered.

"The sword glows blue when orcs or goblins are around." She informed nervously.

Thorin nodded in acknowledgement. "All will be fine." He said but not very convincingly and quickened their pace.

They soon arrived to the clearing with Thorin´s pony and they both mounted and spurred the beasts.

Another cry echoed from the back and Bella let out a soft cry.

"Don´t worry, just go! Go, and don´t look back." She nodded and cracked the reigns. The pony ran as fast as it could thought the thick forest and she kept glancing behind her at Thorin. He was busy with looking around and scanning the surroundings – holding the reigns in one hand and the elvish dagger in the other, shooting angry glances all around. His black wavy hair flowed around him making him look regal and handsome at the same time.

And Bella had to admit to herself even in this peril that he was quite an eye-full.

Finally after a good while they exited the forest and the ponies ran unhindered towards the mountain. Bella was already thinking that the worst was behind them when she heard a nasty growl from behind.

She turned around only to see a small pack of wargs running behind them.

"GO!" Thorin shouted anxiously. "DON´T LOOK BACK!"

But Bella could not hold her eyes on the mountain. She held the reigns in a death grip but she kept looking back at the dwarf, making sure he followed and was not caught by the beasts.

"THORIN!" She cried out when she saw one of the wards leap at him but the lad swung her blade and cut the beast´s throat without a second thought.

They were almost near the gates. Only just a little bit. Bella heard him shout something in a rough language. And she looked around in panic. She then noticed that the guards at the gate stopped in their tracks and turned their attention at them. The gate started to open up and Thorin kept shouting at the dwarves on the stony ramparts and in a second a rain of arrows few down on the beasts.

Passing the gate the guards calmed down the startled pony and helped her to dismount. Thorin followed closely behind.

The guards were asking her if she was hurt, and after she assured them that she was unharmed they ran to the dwarven lad who angrily yelled at the guards.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he led her away from the gate.

"Yes." She whispered, still trembling. Thorin smiled at her. And she found herself smiling back at him.

He escorted her back to the caravan and returned her sword. He was about to leave when she stopped him, looking unsure.

"Thank you." She whispered. He smiled again and bowed his head.

"You are welcome." He replied softly and turning on his heels he walked away.

* * *

Days passed and Thorin visited the markets every evening, meeting Bella behind the stands in the shadows.

And with every day she grew dearer to Thorin´s heart. As he did to hers.

Thorin would always take her somewhere else – he showed her the stables, the smithies and the bakeries, he took her to the royal kitchens or the training grounds. They would lay on haystacks, stealing kisses from each other or hide in the library.

And yet she never questioned him. She never asked his origin or what he does. And Thorin was thankful for that. He felt at peace because she loved him for being who he was, not for who he would once be. But he knew she would leave soon. When the autumn reaches its high point she would return to her land with the caravan. And Thorin would grow mad with longing.

And as they laid together during nights and he listened to her pleasured moans, whispered sweet nothings to her ear and caressed her soft body she would smile sadly and kiss his brow. And Thorin knew, and cried silently into her hair as he held her close for the last time

"Don´t leave." He pleaded, and he knows he´s being selfish. "Stay with me. Stay in Erebor. My heart will not bear the distance."

She kissed his brow and caressed his cheeks.

"My hero, my love, you know I cannot stay and you know you cannot love me forever. For you are to be a king and I am but a fleeting dream." Thorin shaked his head in disbelief.

"How? How do you know?" He asked unhappily.

"You are not as stealthy as you think you are." Bella laughed softly, kissing him again. "I knew since the day when the wargs chased us. A warden would not bow his head to a kitchen-boy."

"And yet you didn´t say anything."

"I didn´t have to say anything. I liked you as you were – a thief in the night clad in black cloak."

"Promise me you´ll come back." Thorin pleaded again. "I am only capable of loving you."

Bella hesitated. "You shouldn't say that." She said, kissing him again when his desperate eyes met hers again. "You should find a proper lass, one you would take for a queen."

"You are my queen." Thorin whispered as they fell asleep in silence.

* * *

He watched the leaving caravan with a heavy heart. But he refused to despair or cry because he believed she would come back.

But when he wrote a letter and sent his raven to her, it never came back. He grew restless and worried even though Frerin kept assuring him that it sometimes happens. That he should give it some time.

He sent his scouts forth to look for her and the caravan.

They came back, but the tidings they brought were not the ones Thorin wanted to hear.

The caravan was waylaid by orcs and it never reached its destination. The only thing from the caravan they brought back was a torn velvet cloak that once adorned her shoulders.

Thorin shut himself in his room that night, and in darkness and silence, he wept for his lost love.


End file.
